A Living Wage for Garment Workers: What Is Needed Is Goodwill and Dialogue
Bangladesh’s ready-made garment (RMG) industry is one of the principal driving forces of the national economy.
Its contribution to foreign exchange earnings, employment generation and strengthening Bangladesh’s position in international markets is undeniable.
Yet a fundamental question remains: can the success of an industry be considered complete when the workers whose labour, skills and dedication sustain it continue to live amid uncertainty and financial hardship? Production may increase, exports may grow and businesses may expand, but such progress cannot be sustainable if workers struggle to meet the basic needs of their families.
Recent discontent over wages in the garment sector has brought this question into sharp focus. When workers struggle to pay for food, rent, healthcare, transport and their children’s education, their demand for a review of wages cannot simply be ignored.
Treating the issue merely as a law-and-order problem or a challenge to maintaining production will not resolve the underlying crisis. What is needed is a clear understanding of workers’ living conditions, an assessment of employers’ financial capacity and a fair solution facilitated by the government.
The Growing Gap Between Wages and the Cost of Living
In November 2023, the minimum monthly wage for garment workers was raised from Tk 8,000 to Tk 12,500, with the new rate taking effect on December 1 of that year.
However, an increase in nominal wages does not automatically improve living standards. Real improvement depends on how much a worker can actually afford with that income.
When inflation drives up the cost of food, housing, healthcare, transportation and other essentials, the purchasing power of a fixed wage declines.
A worker may continue to receive the same nominal salary while experiencing a deterioration in real living standards.
Any wage-setting process that overlooks this reality is unlikely to meet workers’ legitimate expectations.
The appropriate minimum wage should not be determined by emotion or guesswork alone.
It should be based on a realistic assessment of food and nutritional needs, housing, healthcare, transportation, education and the expenses associated with dependent family members.
At the same time, inflation, productivity, the financial capacity of the industry and competition in international markets must also be taken into account.
The objective should be to uphold workers’ right to a decent standard of living while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the industry.
The Wage Board Must Play an Effective Role
The government has established a new wage board to review remuneration in the garment sector.
The most important task now is to ensure that the board begins its work promptly and transparently, listens to all relevant parties and makes practical recommendations within a reasonable timeframe.
Section 141 of the Bangladesh Labour Act identifies several factors relevant to wage recommendations, including the cost of living, living standards, the cost of production, productivity, inflation and the employer’s capacity to pay.
The law therefore provides a framework for considering the essential factors involved in wage revision. What is needed now is its proper and effective application.
The wage board’s responsibility should extend beyond hearing competing demands from workers and employers. It should collect reliable data on living costs, examine production and profitability trends, analyse workers’ actual income and expenditure, and assess the likely consequences of different wage proposals. Its recommendations should rest on evidence, sound reasoning and fairness.
Direct Dialogue with Trade Union Leaders
One of the most effective ways for the government to address labour unrest is to engage in regular and meaningful dialogue with trade union leaders. Hearing employers’ concerns is important, but it is equally necessary to ensure that workers’ representatives can freely present the genuine grievances of their members.
Negotiation should never be regarded as a sign of weakness. Seeking solutions through dialogue is a mark of responsible governance and a mature industrial system. The government should convene regular tripartite meetings involving employers, workers’ representatives and relevant government officials.
Workers’ Fair Wages and Industrial Interests Are Not Opposed
Pressure from international buyers, rising production costs, uncertainty over energy supplies and electricity prices, and high borrowing costs can all place garment manufacturers under financial strain.
The limitations faced by small and medium-sized factories, in particular, should not be overlooked.
However, these challenges cannot be resolved by denying workers the minimum conditions necessary for a decent life.
Wages are a component of production costs, but labour itself is fundamental to production. Fair remuneration, safe working conditions and greater employment security can strengthen workers’ motivation and commitment.
Labour Unrest Can Undermine the Investment Climate
Prolonged unrest in industrial areas, factory shutdowns and disruptions to transportation can weaken the confidence of both domestic and foreign investors.
Buyers may become concerned about timely deliveries, export orders may shift to competing countries, and financial pressure on factories may intensify.
Ultimately, workers themselves may bear much of the resulting cost.
Violence, vandalism and actions that obstruct the movement or livelihoods of others cannot be justified. At the same time, workers’ rights to peaceful protest and to raise legitimate demands must be protected. Law enforcement must be exercised with restraint, impartiality and accountability.
A Living Wage Must Not Be Confused with Other Issues
A living wage for workers is not merely a partisan political slogan. It is a question of human dignity and the right to a decent life. When this issue becomes entangled with unrelated political or administrative controversies, the central problem risks being obscured.
The government’s responsibility is to hear workers’ concerns, assess employers’ capacity to pay and facilitate an acceptable settlement.
Employers must remember that workers are not merely inputs in a production process.
They are human beings with families, responsibilities and aspirations for the future.
Workers’ representatives, in turn, should participate responsibly in negotiations while taking the industry’s economic realities into account.
A Solution Is Possible if There Is Goodwill
The government now has an institutional mechanism—the wage board—to help address the remuneration problem in Bangladesh’s garment sector.
What is additionally required is regular tripartite dialogue, reliable calculations of living costs and decisions within a defined timeframe.
The wage structure must provide workers with a realistic opportunity to meet their basic needs while allowing the industry to remain viable and competitive.
Government goodwill and impartiality will be decisive. Workers’ hardship must be considered with empathy, while decisions must be based on reliable evidence. Employers’ difficulties also deserve attention, but not at the expense of workers’ legitimate rights.
The time has therefore come to move beyond blame and delay. The government, employers and workers’ representatives must sit together at the negotiating table. They must establish a reasonable wage structure, ensure its timely implementation and develop an effective mechanism for reviewing wages in line with changes in the cost of living.
With genuine goodwill, this problem is far from insurmountable.
A fair and practical settlement can become a means of improving workers’ lives, strengthening industrial stability and advancing Bangladesh’s economic progress—all at the same time.
(The writer is a Colmanist and
Advisory Editor of the New Nation)
